Since its inception, the Internet has grown from a relatively limited network of computers and small computer networks into a vast worldwide network that can be used to connect almost any computing device with any other, given only a modest level of network communication equipment and software. The Internet is made possible by a large number of interconnected devices that route communications from their source to destination, generally through a number of intermediate devices.
A communications protocol referred to as TCP/IP (transmission control protocol/Internet protocol) provides a standard scheme for effecting these communications so that regardless of the information being transmitted, the communicating devices are ultimately able to send it to, and through one another. In general, information being transmitted through the Internet is broken into coded packets (relatively small segments of data) and each packet is addressed and numbered so that it can be routed to its destination independently of the others. The individual packets carrying pieces of the information may in fact take different routes as the communication nodes along their route continually decide the best route available at the time of transmission. Once at their destination, associated packets are collected and assembled in their proper sequence to recreate the transmitted information.
A wide variety of information can be sent using this standard protocol, in essence because the contents of each packet to not have to be interpreted or executed by each communication node, only retransmitted toward its goal. This enables one computer to send, for example, a text file, an audio file, or a graphics file to another computer where it will be received, stored, and presented to the user in an appropriate fashion. The intermediate routing devices need not be capable of perceiving the eventual purpose of the transmitted information. Encrypted information can also be transmitted without the need to decrypt it until the intended recipient wishes to do so.
The ability to send this wide variety of information through the Internet has been enhanced by constant upgrades to the transmission equipment that makes up the Internet. By the same token, advances in the speed and storage capability of consumer computing equipment have enabled individual users to be able to create and reproduce multimedia presentations including, for example, sound and graphics. Real-time (or streaming) transmissions can be made, meaning that a dynamic presentation created or performed at one node can be transmitted to one (or many) others as it is occurring, and the recipient or recipients can continually receive and recreate the transmitted presentation with very little delay. Similarly, a conversation at one location can be encoded and transmitted to another using a technology called voice over Internet protocol (VoIP). The recipient can decode and play the received VoIP transmission so rapidly that the parties perceive little difference from a standard telephone call.
There are a number of other ways that users take advantage of this new communication ability. One of the most widely-used ways is simply to find information that the user would like to know, information that they would otherwise have to obtain from another source that might be difficult or virtually impossible to access. The ability to retrieve information through the Internet has been greatly aided by the development of the World Wide Web (WWW, or simply “the Web”). The Web, generally speaking is a set of protocols that provide a manner of storing information in computer databases using a standard language such as HTML (hypertext markup language). A database file may hold a collection of this information that is referred to as a Web page, owing to the way it is delivered as a unit to a user who requests it. A collection of Web pages are said to form a Web site, available at a single Internet address. A single computer database may hold the information relating to one, or to a great many Web sites.
The information at a Web site is available on either an open or a limited basis to those who know the address from which it can be retrieved. Each computing device connected to the Internet has an Internet address (or a number of addresses) though which it can be contacted. Internet addresses are long strings of numbers, so Web sites frequency use as their notorious address a uniform resource locator (URL), which is often a more memorable series of characters (such as “www.alcatel.com”). Internet devices are provided with tables for translating URLs into addresses usable to them in routing information. Internet users wishing to access the information at a Web site may enter the address on a screen provided by any of several available programs called Web-browsers. Their computer then transmits a request to the computer storing the Web site and requests that one or more pages of information be returned.
The first page sent in response to a request made to a URL-type address is often called the Web site's “home page” (unless a more particular specification to another page is included with the address). When this information is sent back to the user, the user's Web browser automatically translates it into a presentation that may include text and graphics displayed on the computer's display monitor and sound played through speakers. The retrieved information may also include instructions for retrieving additional Web pages from that Web site, or for requesting information from a different Web site entirely. These instructions, invisible to the user, are executed when the user performs a certain action. Commonly, the user uses a mouse to manipulate an on-screen pointing device until it points at an area of the screen at which a particular word, picture, or other visual cue is displayed. When the pointer is appropriately positioned, the user “clicks” by pushing a mouse key. (Portions of the display that can be activated in this manner in order to access other Web sites are often called “hyperlinks”, or simply “links”.) Assuming the instructions associated with this action to include a currently valid request for information from an accessible source, the on-screen display of the user's computer is replaced by a different one whenever the new Web-page information has been transmitted and becomes available.
To access a particular Web site, the user must have a URL (or actual Internet address) for the site, or connect through another site using a link as described above. Many URLs are commonly advertised and are often easy to remember, so at times this is not difficult. There is a limit to the number of addresses that any user can remember, however, so Web browsers usually keep track of the addresses of previously-visited sites so that the information there can be accessed again at a later time, assuming it remains available at that address.
In many cases though, the user is not even aware of whether certain information is available at any particular Web site, and therefore has no address to enter. In this circumstance, the user can employ a search engine to see if the desired information can be found. Most search engines are themselves available at Web sites, where the user is offered a window in which to type in certain key words or phrases that the search engine, when commanded to do so, will use to search through a previously-compiled index or database of available Web sites and their content. A results list of promising Web sites is produced for the user to view, the list generally containing links to the sites listed there. Once found, of course, the user may elect to store the address of a useful Web site using their Web-browser program (a process commonly called bookmarking). As should be apparent, search engines are very useful devices. The fact that the produced list may be thousands of items long, however, may detract from their usefulness, especially for an inexperienced user, or one searching for hard-to-describe information.
Links to other sites may also be available in directories, or lists that have already been compiled and stored at Web sites. Directories are particularly useful for finding entities such as individuals, businesses, or government offices, and information relating to them. Typically, the directory will list entities meeting certain criteria along with contact information related to the entity (similar to the manner in which a Yellow Pages directory lists those businesses that pay to be listed). In the case of an on-line directory, this contact information may include Web sites associated with the entities (sometimes including actual links), if available, as well as telephone numbers or street addresses. Naturally, a directory may provide one or several types of contact information for each listed entity.
When a user wishes to contact a particular entity, perhaps to buy something or to provide or receive specific information, the user may access an on-line directory to determine the mailing address or phone number appropriate for doing so. The entity's Web site may also be provided. Some company Web sites even allows users to activate links that allow them to send an email message, either to a specific person or to a central mailbox from which it will (hopefully) be routed in a timely fashion. At times, however, a telephone conversation is the best or the only way to efficiently contact the entity and communicate the needed information. In some cases the entity may not even have a Web site to which the user can look first for needed direction. In these cases the user will generally have to remember, write down, or print out the telephone number and then make the call through a standard telephone network.
Moreover, when the entity is accessible by a voice communication device operable according to the Internet protocol (IP) scheme (via the Internet), they may be very difficult to access using a standard telephone connected though the PSTN. This often remains true even if the IP address is known or found in a standard directory, when the PSTN phone will have no way of ‘dialing’ a number associated with that address. And, of course, contacting the IP-based telephone via a standard PSTN network is impossible if the address itself is unknown.
It is in light of this background information that the significant improvements of the present invention have evolved.